Sanitation
The Facts about Sanitation at Global Level
Ø 4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation – more than half the global population. (WHO/UNICEF 2019)
Ø 673 million people still practise open defecation worldwide. (WHO/UNICEF 2019)
Ø Globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces. (WHO 2019)
Ø Inadequate sanitation is estimated to cause 432,000 diarrhoeal deaths every year and is a major factor in diseases such as intestinal worms, trachoma and schistosomiasis. (WHO 2019) Approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide are infected with soil transmitted helminths, which could be completely prevented with sanitation. 297,000 children under five are estimated to die each year from diarrhoea as a result of unsafe drinking water, sanitation, and hand hygiene. (WHO 2019)
Ø Children under the age of five living in countries affected by protracted conflict are, on average, nearly 20 times more likely to die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by a lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene than by direct violence. (UNICEF 2019)
Ø One third of all primary schools lack basic sanitation and hygiene services, affecting the education of millions of school children, particularly girls managing menstruation. (UN 2019)
Ø 1.5 billion people use health care facilities with no sanitation services. (WHO/UNICEF 2019)
Ø The 70.8 million people who have been forced to flee their home as a result of war and persecution regularly face barriers to accessing safe sanitation and water services. (UNESCO 2019 and UNHCR 2019)
Ø Only 17% of refugees have access to safely managed sanitation where they live. This is well behind the global average where 45% of the global population has access to safely managed sanitation at home. (UNHCR 2019 and WHO/ UNICEF 2019)
Ø The wealthier generally receive high levels of WASH services at (often very) low cost, whereas the poor pay a much higher price for a service of similar or lesser quality. (UNESCO 2019)
Ø In 2017, 45% of the global population (3.4 billion people) used a safely managed sanitation service.
Ø 31% of the global population (2.4 billion people) used private sanitation facilities connected to sewers from which wastewater was treated.
Ø 14% of the global population (1.0 billion people) used toilets or latrines where excreta were disposed of in situ.
Ø 74% of the world’s population (5.5 billion people) used at least a basic sanitation service.
Ø 2.0 billion people still do not have basic sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines.
Ø Of these, 673 million still defecate in the open, for example in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water.
Ø At least 10% of the world’s population is thought to consume food irrigated by wastewater.
Ø Poor sanitation is linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio and exacerbates stunting.
Ø Inadequate sanitation is estimated to cause 432 000 diarrhoeal deaths annually and is a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and trachoma. Poor sanitation also contributes to malnutrition.
Ø Some 827 000 people in low- and middle-income countries die as a result of inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene each year, representing 60% of total diarrhoeal deaths. Poor sanitation is believed to be the main cause in some 432 000 of these deaths.
Ø Diarrhoea remains a major killer but is largely preventable. Better water, sanitation, and hygiene could prevent the deaths of 297 000 children aged under 5 years each year.
Ø Open defecation perpetuates a vicious cycle of disease and poverty. The countries where open defection is most widespread have the highest number of deaths of children aged under 5 years as well as the highest levels of malnutrition and poverty, and big disparities of wealth.